Wanted: Dead Or Alive
by Northern-Southern Belle
Summary: Trixie sneaks her new pet spider on a weekend trip to Penelope's beach house and when it goes lost as she unpacks, she, Lucifer, and Chloe have to find it. One-shot, post season three.


**Disclaimer: Only the plot belongs to me.**

"If we're going to the beach, can I bring my new pet spider?" Trixie asked Chloe.

"No, baby, you can't," Chloe shook her head. "Why don't you just leave it here? Or better yet, take it outside and let it live in nature where it belongs?"

"What's this about?" Lucifer asked as he strode into the house. "Family argument? How can I help?"

"You can help by staying out of it," Chloe told him. "This is something between my daughter and me."

"We're going on a trip to the beach," Trixie told Lucifer. "We're gonna be gone for the whole weekend and I just want to bring my new pet spider, but Mommy won't let me."

"You have a new pet spider?" Lucifer asked, his eyes lightening up. "Oh, how interesting! Let me see!"

"Okay, let me get it!" Trixie said with a smile and ran to her room as Chloe winced and shuddered.

"Why did you ask her to bring it in here?" Chloe asked him. "I'm not a bug person! I don't want that anywhere near me!"

"Oh, but Chloe, spiders are _marvelous_!" Lucifer tried to explain. "They stop places from being bug-infested. They have bad raps that they don't deserve, not unlike some people!"

"Okay, spiders are great," Chloe got out. "Would you just tell her that she can't bring it to the beach house with her? Please?"

"Here it is!" Trixie announced, bringing in a cage containing a good-sized yellow and white spider. "Isn't it pretty?"

"Oh, yes," Lucifer peered at it. "I've not seen one that looks like this." He had, of course, but he felt like this was one of those occasions where he had to feign surprise. "I have to commend you on your choice of pet. Much more interesting than a kitten or a puppy."

"Yes, and the beach house is really dusty and gross," Trixie made a face. "Crawling with bugs! I'm just trying to keep the bugs away."

"Just because you saw one water bug one time, that doesn't mean the beach house is _crawling_ with bugs," Chloe corrected. "Don't be so dramatic."

"How about I come with you?" Lucifer offered. "I'll help the child make sure her spider doesn't get loose. Would that be all right?"

"Fine, whatever," Chloe shrugged. She clearly wasn't going to win this. "I just hope there aren't spiderwebs or baby spiders all over when we leave. My mother might not like that."

"Your mother?" Lucifer grinned. "Is she gonna be there too?"

"No," Chloe shook her head. "I wouldn't be there if she was."

"Mommy and Grandma still have issues," Trixie told Lucifer. "But Grandma likes to have someone come and stay occasionally when she's out of town, so we're going."

"Oh, how delightful!" Lucifer grinned and eyed Chloe. "May I come too? I promise I'll be a help more than a hindrance."

"Yeah, please, Mommy? Can Lucifer come?" Trixie pleaded.

Chloe eyed both of them peering at her and nodded. "Oh, all right, why not. This is supposed to be fun." She looked at Lucifer. "How long will it take you to pack?"

"For a weekend?" Lucifer shook his head. "Hardly any time at all. I'll be back before you know it."

* * *

As Chloe prepared to pull out of the driveway, a yell from Trixie suddenly stopped her.

"I forgot something!" She cried. "Can I run back and get it, please?"

"Sure," Chloe nodded. "Just don't take too long, all right?"

"I won't," Trixie nodded. "I swear." She then got out of the car and ran into the house, and despite her promise to hurry, Chloe and Lucifer were still waiting for her after several minutes.

"Do you want me to see what's keeping her?" Lucifer asked. "I suppose i could convince her to come out."

"Would you?" Chloe nodded. "Thank you. But if she's hurt or something, you tell me and we'll switch places, all right?"

"All right," Lucifer nodded. Then he made his way into the house. It took him less time than usual to find Trixie's room and as he got there, she was coming out the door. When she saw him, she took off running without a word.

By the time Lucifer reached the car, he was actually panting and Trixie was sitting contentedly in the backseat.

"What were you doing?" He asked. "Why did you take off like that when you saw me?"

"Never mind about that," Chloe said. "The point is, she's in the car now, so let's get going."

But as they pulled out, Lucifer noticed something akin to a small smirk on the little girl's face when he looked in the rear view mirror. He wondered what that was about.

* * *

He found out that evening. After dinner and a movie, they all decided to unpack, and that's when it all came out.

"Mommy! Lucifer!" Trixie cried as she came running into the room Chloe had chosen where Lucifer was helping Chloe unpack. "We're in big trouble!"

"Why, baby?" Chloe asked. "What's happened? Whatever it is, we can fix it."

"Okay, um...you know how you told me that I wasn't allowed to bring my pet spider?" Trixie asked.

"Yes..." Chloe nodded, her voice a little tighter.

"Well, I did, and um...I looked for it after I unpacked and...it's gone now."

"Oh, my...baby, when I tell you not to do something, you shouldn't do it!" Chloe said. "Now there could be a huge spider running around my mother's house!"

"Or it could be dead," Lucifer said in an attempt to spin things positively, (for Chloe, at least) but changing his tune when he saw Trixie's downcast face. "But let's hope not. Why don't we split up and maybe we'll find it if we look really hard."

"Really?" Trixie asked hopefully and then hugged him. "Thank you, Lucifer!"

"Yes, yes, you're welcome!" He told her, letting the hug go on for a little bit and then holding her at a distance. "Let's not dawdle any longer, shall we?"

"No," Chloe shook her head. "We should not."

They were going to split up three ways after grabbing what they thought were necessary spider-hunting supplies, but then it began to storm and the power went out. "Well, crap!" Chloe said. We can't go three ways now! We only have one flashlight and Trixie grabbed it."

"Not to worry, Chloe," Lucifer told her, rummaging around the bag that was slung over his shoulder until he felt the flashlight, then grabbing it and clicking it on. "See? Now we have two!"

"Good, what a relief!" Chloe said. "Now we can find the spider and enjoy our weekend." She paused. "And I want you to stay close to me."

"Why?" Lucifer asked as he grabbed her hand. "Scared of the dark?"

"No," Chloe shook her head. "Do I really need to give you an actual reason?"

"No, of course not," Lucifer told her. "This is good enough for me."

They looked and they looked for what seemed like hours until finally the lights came on and they found Trixie in the corner of the kitchen next to the spider and what looked like a web in process.

"Look, it's making a home!" Trixie commented. "I really don't think we should move it."

"Oh, but I think we have to," Lucifer told her. "Your grandmother wouldn't like having a spider in her house like this without her knowledge."

"But you said they were good and they killed other bugs!" Trixie reminded him.

"They are and I didn't say we should kill it," Lucifer said, getting down on his knees and reaching out his hand so the yellow spider could crawl onto it. "We just...we just can't make it have a home here."

"Please go get the cage, so we can put it where it belongs," Chloe begged. "And this time, please keep the lid on it, or we'll be putting the spider outside."

"All right," Trixie sighed and went to get the cage.

* * *

When the spider was secure and the web was cleaned up, Chloe helped Trixie get into her pajamas and get tucked into bed while Lucifer stayed in the kitchen and made him and Chloe drinks that they both sorely needed after the whole spider debacle.

"Are you mad at me?" Trixie asked. "I know you told me not to bring the spider and I did anyway. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Chloe told her. "No one was hurt and we caught it, and I admit one of the reasons I didn't want you to bring it was because I don't like spiders all that much."

"Oh," Trixie nodded. "Sorry. I'll be extra careful next time."

"Good," Chloe smiled and gave her a kiss. "Thank you, Monkey."

"You're welcome, Mommy," Trixie told her. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Chloe said and shut out the lights.

"Crisis averted?" Lucifer asked as she made her way back to the living room and accepted the red wine Lucifer handed her.

"Yeah," Chloe nodded. "Trixie's gonna be fine. And she promised she wouldn't bring any more spiders on family trips."

"Good," Lucifer nodded and guided Chloe to the couch where they both sat. "Wonderful. Now it's just us, is it?"

"Yes," Chloe asked and leaned against him with a smile. "Just us, and thanks for your help making that possible. You really did a good job getting Trixie through this."

"Well, thank you," Lucifer told her. "I'm still learning how to be good with children, I suppose. But it's nice to know I can do well on occasion."

"You know, Trixie has a couple of friends at the next house over," Chloe told him. "She mentioned that she might want to see them tomorrow and if she goes...did you bring your bathing suit? I wouldn't mind spending some time in the water."

"I did," Lucifer grinned as they both took a sip from their cups. "Because honestly, I wouldn't say 'No' to a dip tomorrow either. Wonderful idea."

"Shall we toast on it?"

"Yes," Lucifer grinned and clinked his glass against hers. "We should."

 **The End**


End file.
